Allen, Texas – Specialized Risk has been approved for membership in the California Association of Licensed Investigators (CALI). This approval qualifies Specialized Risk as member of the Big Three; a special group of companies who are also approved members in good standing with the Texas Association of Licensed Investigators (TALI) and the Florida Association of Licensed Investigators (FALI). CALI, TALI and FALI is are all state level non-profit corporations and associations for professional licensed investigators. The Big Three are the largest professional associations of private investigators in the world and continues to be the pace-setter for the private investigation industry. They are dedicated to raising professionalism in the field of private investigations through continuing education, public awareness, advanced certification, networking and legislative involvement.

You may find yourself in the middle of a violent incident when you least expect it. Very few places are totally safe so below are a few tactics for you to consider should you find yourself in the middle of a bad situation. The most important thing is to Stay Safe!
‘Stay Safe’ principles (Run Hide Tell) give some simple actions to consider at an incident and the information that armed officers may need in the event of a firearms and weapons attack.

Run
• Escape if you can.
• Consider the safest options.
• Is there a safe route? RUN if not HIDE.
• Can you get there without exposing yourself to greater danger?
• Insist others leave with you.
• Leave belongings behind.

Hide
• If you can’t RUN, HIDE.
• Find cover from gunfire.
• If you can see the attacker, they may be able to see you.
• Cover from view does not mean you are safe, bullets go through glass, brick, wood and metal.
• Find cover from gunfire e.g. substantial brickwork / heavy reinforced walls.
• Be aware of your exits.
• Try not to get trapped.
• Be quiet, silence your phone.
• Lock / barricade yourself in.
• Move away from the door.

Tell(Call only if it is safe to do so)
Call 999 – What do the police need to know?
• Location – Where are the suspects?
• Direction – Where did you last see the suspects?
• Descriptions – Describe the attacker, numbers, features, clothing, weapons etc.
• Further information – Casualties, type of injury, building information, entrances, exits, hostages etc.
• Stop other people entering the building if it is safe to do so.

Allen, Texas – We live in savage times these days and the terrorist attacks in Paris yesterday are another example. By all indications, this attack was well planned, well executed and took many months of planning. The French counter-terrorist guys and their intelligence service is top notch so the fact that ISIL was able to conduct these attacks without any forewarning is a bit surprising.

There is no disputing the fact that the government of Iran is the leading sponsor of state funded terrorism in the world. With the recent agreement to ease sanctions on the government due to their agreeing to making changes, favorable to them, on the production of nuclear materials: the major source of cash infusion into their coffers now means the government has significant resources to expand their funding of terrorist groups throughout the world. In fact, if one notices, there has already been an increase of terror attacks in Israel and a few EU countries. These new attacks are basically terrorist groups “auditioning” for funding from Iran. The only thing we can expect here in America from this nuclear deal with Iran is an increase in terror attacks against our interests here and in other parts of the world. Make sure your business is prepared when this happens.

Tropical Storm Erika is on a track to make landfall in Southern Florida by Sunday or Monday. The course will stabilize over the next few days but everyone should be prepared. Now is the time to begin your emergency preparations.

Prepare your family, home, or business before a disaster strikes. Learn how you can get prepared to lessen the impact of severe tropical weather by visiting: www.ready.gov/hurricanes #HurricanePrep

Did you know: Most hurricane deaths and damages aren’t because of winds they happen because of flooding?

Remember, Turn around, Don’t drown. A mere six inches of fast-moving flood water can knock over an adult. It only takes two feet of rushing water to carry away most vehicles including pickups and SUV’s

Fireworks are synonymous with our celebration of Independence Day. Most people don’t consider fireworks an explosive but they are treated as a Class C explosive device during shipping. The thrill of fireworks can also bring pain. 230 people on average go the emergency room every day with fireworks-related injuries in the month around the July 4th holiday.

• Avoid buying fireworks that are packaged in brown paper because this is often a sign that the fireworks were made for professional displays and that they could pose a danger to consumers.

• Always have an adult supervise fireworks activities. Parents don’t realize that young children suffer injuries from sparklers. Sparklers burn at temperatures of about 2,000 degrees – hot enough to melt some metals.

• Never place any part of your body directly over a fireworks device when lighting the fuse. Back up to a safe distance immediately after lighting fireworks.

• Never try to re-light or pick up fireworks that have not ignited fully.

• Never point or throw fireworks at another person.

• Keep a bucket of water or a garden hose handy in case of fire or other mishap.

• Light fireworks one at a time, then move back quickly.

• Never carry fireworks in a pocket or shoot them off in metal or glass containers.

• After fireworks complete their burning, douse the spent device with plenty of water from a bucket or hose before discarding it to prevent a trash fire.

• Make sure fireworks are legal in your area before buying or using them.

Summary
In the spring of 2014, the Founder and Managing Director of Specialized Risk®, Steven Haynes, was the victim of an unfavorable and sensationalistic investigative report and subsequent story by local news media making accusations that he falsified his military records among other accusations. Based on this report, an investigation was initiated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Navy Criminal Investigative Service in early May of 2014.
Following the full and complete cooperation of Mr. Haynes during the investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas determined that no further investigation or other action of any kind would be taken in the matter. This unwarranted media attack was directed at Mr. Haynes personally over allegations of events that took place over 34 years ago and did not implicate Specialized Risk®, as a company, in any manner. The closure of the federal investigation concludes this incident.

Background
At the time of the incident, Mr. Haynes was performing security and risk consulting services under contract for a North Texas city. Specialized Risk® had been awarded the contract in approximately 2008 and had maintained it continuously since that time. In the normal course of performing the required duties of his position, Mr. Haynes made several decisions and implemented changes that were in the best interest of the client but that angered a highly placed city official. Many weeks after the investigative report aired, Mr. Haynes learned that the city official contacted the local television media investigative reporter and they collaborated for approximately a year on intensely digging into his life for the last 34 years. Mr. Haynes first learned of their intent to attack his reputation when confronted by the reporter and his cameraman/producer as he attempted to exit his vehicle when arriving for work. The reporter shoved a microphone into Mr. Haynes face and began asking rapid fire questions and making inflammatory accusations in an attempt to obtain a response which could be used against him. The two relentlessly pursued Mr. Haynes into his place of employment in a manner we have all seen too many times on television when an innocent victim is attacked by relentless reporters. A day or so prior to the report being aired, Mr. Haynes, along with two city officials, met with the reporter and his producer to answer questions and provide documentation (not available to the reporter through his Freedom of Information Act request to the Navy) to substantiate his explanations and disprove many of the alleged accusations which were made during the meeting. The reporter chose not to reference any of the substantiating documentation or clarifying explanations made during the meeting in his on-air report. An associate who is familiar with how the investigative report process works told Mr. Haynes later that the reporter and producer had invested approximately a years’ worth of time and station resources into developing the report and they had to air some kind of report.

The Investigative Report
We will not go into a lengthy detailed point-by-point analysis for the sake of brevity or to add any credibility to the accusations of this unwarranted media onslaught, however, following the airing of the report, Mr. Haynes and several of his associates conducted a detailed analysis of the report. The report is a sensationalistic pseudo-expose based on alleged improprieties that occurred over 30 years ago. It misrepresents many basic facts and includes a goodly amount of television magic including:

– The use of exaggerated oversized fonts to represent service record entries that are clearly faked which is not consistent with the actual documents.

– Assertions that Mr. Haynes provided the allegedly altered documents to the reporter which is not true.

– The use of supposed letters from the Navy substantiating statements the reporter made as fact in the report including one letter that was blurred out to be unreadable. In fact the only letter the reporter received from the Navy is simply a confirmation from the Navy that they had received the open-records request and not the two separate and distinct, though blurred out, letters supposedly acknowledging the accusations made.

– The ages old trick of cutting off a full answer to a question which would provide context but instead using a few chosen words to slant the response to the story the reporter wants told.

– Asking questions of reportedly outside experts which are designed to solicit the answers the reporter wants to hear.

The list is a short example of the television tricks the reporter used to air a report which is consistent with how he sought to attack Mr. Haynes without being legally slanderous but contains many misrepresentations, distorted facts, gimmickry and outright lies. The mass media has many tools at their disposal to carry out this type of malicious attack against ordinary citizens and the citizen has virtually no means to represent their version of the story in any meaningful way. Until this happens to you personally the term “tried and convicted in the media” has no real meaning.

Federal Investigation Conclusion
Fortunately, the combined investigative resources and investigation process of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Navy Criminal Investigative Service are much more robust, fair and thorough that a local investigative reporter. After the report aired, Mr. Haynes obtained the services of legal counsel to assist him in responding to the media attack and ensuing federal investigation. He was fortunate to find an attorney who was a previous Navy JAG officer who understood the way the Navy operates. As previously stated, (also refer to letter from attorney attached below) after the federal investigation was referred to the United States Attorney, the investigation was closed and no action taken.

Summary
The following significant issues are relevant to the allegations made in the report:

1. Mr. Haynes underwent stringent multiple background investigations related to his law enforcement experience. He served as a sworn police officer in Newport News, VA, was accepted into the Texas Department of Public Safety State Police Academy in 1982 (left academy to reenlist in Navy) and was accepted into the Dallas Police Department as a Reserve Officer in approximately 2001 (did not attend due to work travel requirements). Many of the allegations made in the report would have been surfaced during the background investigation portion of the process had they any merit.

2. During his nearly 20 years of active duty Navy service, he maintained a Top Secret or Secret military clearance as a requirement of his job duties. Further, he was certified as a critical position (meaning he had both technical knowledge and physical access to nuclear weapons) in the Navy Personnel Reliability Program (PRP) which requires not only periodic re-investigations but constant detailed monitoring of both work and personal life. It would seem likely that many of the allegations would have surfaced during the periodic background investigation updates.

3. The North Texas city which is the subject in the report, after their internal investigation, chose to continue the contract after the airing of the report for approximately 60 days until its expiration at the end of the 3rd quarter of fiscal year of 2014.

4. The reporter alleged that Mr. Haynes had dubious background and qualifications to provide security services and trivialized his law enforcement service with the Newport News, VA Police Department. He served as a part-time auxiliary (reserve) police officer (sworn and state-certified) for nearly 10 years. His duties included independent patrol operations in which he performed the same duties and had the same authority as a full-time paid police officer. The only difference was he performed the duties as a volunteer and was not paid. Attached are three of Mr. Haynes Enlisted Performance Evaluations from the Navy which clearly discuss his qualifications related to military duties and reference his law enforcement duties as well. These are the exact same documents that were provided by NCIS and reviewed by the FBI during their investigation.

Mr. Haynes has spent his entire adult life in the military: he is an honorably discharged Navy veteran with a long list of significant military accomplishments (several of these were commented on by the FBI investigator when reviewing his military records); serving in law enforcement; and running a successful security consulting company assisting many clients with making the country a safer place to live and work.
This unpleasant and stressful experience has caused Mr. Haynes to experience a renewed appreciation for the support, encouragement and trust of not only his family and friends but the vast majority of his business associates and clients as well.

Plano, Texas – Specialized Risk®, a specialized security consulting and investigations company has joined the United States Association of Professional Investigators (USAPI) as a regular member.

Founder Steven Haynes commented: “Our Company’s affiliation with this professional organization will provide us with up-to-date and relevant information, training opportunities and the ability to utilize the wide range of professional affiliated investigations companies as a resource for our consultants and investigators”.

About USAPI: USAPI is quite different from other organizations in that it is an inclusive rather than exclusive group. Membership is open to all “professional investigators.” Any individual who is currently employed in the capacity of a professional investigator including any current active duty law enforcement whether or not they are titled as an investigator, Federal Agent, DA Investigator, Public Defender investigator or licensed Private Investigator. Non-sworn employees for a law enforcement agency or employees of a licensed Private Investigator must be an employee for a period of no less than one year, and be at least 21 years of age. Law Enforcement, PI’s, Insurance, Child Welfare, Military, etc., are all welcome. There is also a Student Category for an individual who is still in school and expresses an interest in learning more about the investigative profession.

Plano, Texas – Specialized Risk®, a specialized security consulting and investigations company has received approval to become a member of the International Association of Counter-Terrorism and Security Professionals (IACSP) association.

“Our Company’s affiliation with this professional organization will provide us with up-to-date and relevant intelligence on new and emerging terrorist threats throughout the country, and the world.” notes founder Steven Haynes, “Additionally this is a great resource for training and information for our consultants and investigators.”

The IACSP goals include creating a center of information and educational services for those concerned about the challenges now facing all free societies and promoting professional ethics in the counterterrorism field. They are the publishers of Counterterrorism magazine.